It is known to use explosive projectiles in a mining operation in which a charge, typically a cylindrical, cast pentolite or hexolite mass, housed in a cupped, finned, baseplated receptacle equipped with an impact fuse and detonator, (as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,416), is fired against a rock face with the charge exploding on impact with the rock surface.
Typically such known projectiles virtually instantly begin to crush and pulverise on impact, with the pulverised, crushed cast explosive instantly dispersing as an extremely fine, fluid powder, in a radial, suspended fan propagating away from the impact site at very high speed. This phenomenon causes detonation to be concentrated at a relatively small quasi-cylindrical area at the point of impact. This has the effect of dissipating at least a portion of the blast wave away from the rock surface, rendering the charge less than optimally effective.
It is an object of the present invention to address or at least ameliorate some of the above disadvantages.
Notes
The term “comprising” (and grammatical variations thereof) is used in this specification in the inclusive sense of “having” or “including”, and not in the exclusive sense of “consisting only of”.
The above discussion of the prior art in the Background of the invention, is not an admission that any information discussed therein is citable prior art or part of the common general knowledge of persons skilled in the art in any country.